The Posts I Haven't Been Able To Write

I've had great intentions of writing several posts during the last month but haven't been able to because of:

a. being overwhelmed with other things that had to be done

b. getting sick (at a most inconvenient time)

c. having very slow internet during spring break with filters that prevented me from accessing many websites on my computer (including Facebook, YouTube, and anything with blogspot in the URL (meaning I couldn't access my own blog).

And now I'd rather post sunny spring break photos and write about sunny days. So, here is the abbreviated version of those other posts that didn't get written during March.

Customer Service

I spent two days in Detroit attending an educator technology conference with several colleagues from my school. We had a great time and learned/shared a lot with other teachers. We were really excited to stay at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center along the river. Unfortunately we had several difficulties: they had overbooked and so we didn't have the type of room we had requested, the ceiling light didn't work, and there was a problem with the boiler which left the water freezing (ice-cold showers - not so fun). There were two redeeming factors in the situation, however. The first was the incredible view. Our room looked onto the river and city with a huge window (the whole wall). We enjoyed the view at night with all the lights and also saw a beautiful sunrise in the morning. 

However, the beautiful view alone would not have been enough that I'd recommend the hotel. What really saved our experience was the employees we met who did everything they could to make our experience better. The head valet man (not sure what his actual job title is) helped us find the parking lot late at night, the receptionist at the front desk apologized for the room and gave us a free buffet breakfast, and the restaurant manager made a special order of french toast for us. Everyone we met who worked there were so polite and kind. Even now, a month later, I smile when I think of Jerome coming to our table with a beautiful plate of hot french toast, garnished with strawberries.

Let It Go

     The last week of March was incredible busy. With parent-teacher conferences Monday and Tuesday evening, my students had to finish their conference booklets on Monday as I do student-led conferences. We also had an Idita-Read reading party Monday afternoon that I had planned and a Passover Seder with the second graders and invited parents on Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday was the last day of school before spring vacation, which I had not even thought about packing for yet.  Definitely not a good time to be sick. 

     When I initially began feeling sick on Saturday night, I tried to convince myself it was just a little bug and I'd be fine: "I can't be sick until Wednesday!" But by Sunday afternoon (and a visit to Urgent Care) I had to finally give in and let everything go. "Sometimes" things are out of our control. They had the reading party without me. The kids did other work that week and we finished the conference booklets after vacation. Both our Passover Seder and parent/teacher/student conferences were rescheduled and done this past week. Although I hated being sick (and making everything up after vacation), it was a good reminder that flexibility is key in all of life.

April Fool

My parents and I flew out of Chicago on Monday, April 1 for a southern spring break. Destination: Anna Maria Island, right on the gulf near Tampa, Florida. It was fitting that we left on April 1 for two reasons: due to a mix-up with the car rental agency (Hertz - never call their corporate line, always deal with a local office!), we ended up taking an expensive taxi ride to a location that was not near the airport. (Although the workers there were also nice and apologetic - good customer service.) By the time we finally got to the island we were ready for supper. We took the island trolley to the City Pier restaurant and found we'd have to wait about an hour to be seated. After waiting quite a while and noticing that others who arrived after we did were being seated, we asked how long it would be. The hostess couldn't find our name at first and then realized she had crossed it out without ever calling us. The manager apologized and seated us; we ended up having a wonderful dinner (probably my favorite restaurant on the island). Again, it came down to good customer service.

O.K. - I guess I'm all caught up now. Time to think about sunny, warm spring break in Florida!